African American Newspapers

Online Newspapers - Newspaper Databases - Print and Microfilm Collections - Finding African American Newspapers at Other Institutions

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Online Newspapers

Search the University of Chicago Library's collection of full-text newspapers. Includes dates of coverage.

• Browse/Search by Newspaper Title

Newspaper Databases

Find articles from African American newspapers. Full-text access is indicated by .

• ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender
  Historic, searchable full-text coverage of the influential African American newspaper, The Chicago Defender from 1905-1975.

Print and Microfilm Collections

Sources to help you locate African American newspapers in print and microfilm at the University of Chicago Library.

• Library Catalog
  To limit your search, use the Advanced Keyword search option. Search "newspapers" as a subject, and "Afro-American" or "African American" as a subject search. Or, use the "Begins With" search and search Library of Congress Subject Headings. For example:
  • African American newspapers
  • African American newspapers -- Illinois
  • Afro-American newspapers
  • Afro-Americans -- Newspapers
  • African Americans -- Newspapers
  • Blacks -- Periodicals
• Lens
  The Library's new search interface provides facets which can focus your search, such as "place of publication," "time period," and "genre".
• United States Newspapers at the University of Chicago Library
  This database can help you identify newspapers at the University of Chicago Library for specific ethnic groups. Select "Subject/Audience". The database was compiled from a survey of U.S. newspapers in 1997 and is not updated, so check holdings and location information.
• Newspaper Collections on Microfilm at the U of C Library
  A bibliography of major microfilm sets, including African-American Newspapers, from the Library of Congress and Abolitionist Periodicals from the Library of Congress.
  

Finding African American Newspapers at Other Institutions

Databases and guides to help you locate African American newspapers at libraries and museums.

• WorldCat
  You can use WorldCat to locate newspapers at libraries around the country. If you do not know the title, you can use the advanced search options to identify newspapers by type or location. To help limit your search, select "Serial" and add "Newspapers" as a subject search to your other keyword searches.
  
• Center for Research Libraries: Ethnic Newspaper Database
  The Center holds one of the largest collections of ethnic newspapers in the country, both in print and microfilm. The Ethnic Newspaper Database allows you to search by ethnic group, including African Americans. Or, search the CRL Catalog for specific titles and holdings.
• Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, Northwestern University Library
  One of the largest collections of African Studies in the United States. University of Chicago students and faculty may obtain access and borrowing privileges for Northwestern University Library.
  
• African American Newspapers at the Wisconsin Historical Society
  Major collection of African American newspapers and periodicals, many of which have been microfilmed. Many of the titles are included in African American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography.
  
• African American Studies: Newspaper Research, Harvard College Library
  A great guide to locating African American newspapers. Many of the collections listed can be obtained at the University of Chicago Library or via interlibrary loan.
  
• Black Press Held by the Library of Congress
  Guide to the extensive print and microfilm newspaper collections at the Library of Congress.
• Chicago History Museum Research Center
  The Chicago History Museum's Research Center has an extensive collection of newspapers on microfilm and many rare newspapers in print, including a few smaller African American newspapers.

Print Sources

• Blassingame, John W. Antislavery Newspapers and Periodicals. Reference Publications in Afro-American Studies. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: AI3.A63.
  
  
• Brown, Warren. Check List of Negro Newspapers in the United States (1827-1946). Lincoln University Journalism Series. Jefferson City, Mo.: School of Journalism, Lincoln Univ., 1946. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: PN4722.L74 no.2.
  
  
• Campbell, Georgetta Merritt. Extant Collections of Early Black Newspapers : A Research Guide to the Black Press, 1880-1915, with an Index to the Boston Guardian, 1902-1904. Troy, N.Y: Whitston Pub. Co., 1981. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection Call Number: Z6944.N39C18
  
  
• Danky, James Philip and Maureen E. Hady. African-American Newspapers and Periodicals : A National Bibliography. Harvard University Press Reference Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: Z6944.N39 A37 1998.
  
  
• Henritze, Barbara K. Bibliographic Checklist of African American Newspapers. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1995. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: Z6944.N39H460 1995.
  
  
• Jacobs, Donald M. Antebellum Black Newspapers : Indices to New York Freedom's Journal (1827-1829), the Rights of all (1829), the Weekly Advocate (1837), and the Colored American (1837-1841). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1976. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: E185.5.J19.
  
  
• La Brie, Henry G. and Henry G. La Brie. A Survey of Black Newspapers in America. Kennebunkport, Me.: Mercer House Press, 1979. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: Z6944.N39L17 1979.
  
  
• La Brie, Henry G. The Black Newspaper in America; a Guide. Iowa City: Institute for Communication Studies, University of Iowa, 1970. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: Z6944.N39L17.
  
  
• North Carolina Central University. School of Library Science. African-American Materials Project. Newspapers and Periodicals by and about Black People : Southeastern Library Holdings. Reference Publication in Black Studies. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1978. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: Z1361.N39N86.
  
  
• Potter, Vilma Raskin. A Reference Guide to Afro-American Publications and Editors, 1827-1946. 1st ed. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1993. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: Z6944.N39P360 1993.
  
  
• Pride, Armistead Scott and Library of Congress. Photoduplication Service. Negro Newspapers on Microfilm : A Selected List. Washington: Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service, 1953. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: Z6944.N39P9 1953.
  
  
• Suggs, Henry Lewis. The Black Press in the Middle West, 1865-1985. Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: PN4882.5.B5360 1996.
  
  
• Suggs, Henry Lewis. The Black Press in the South, 1865-1979. Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: PN4882.5.B540 1983.
  
  
• Thompson, Julius Eric. The Black Press in Mississippi, 1865-1985. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill Press, 1988. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: Z1361.N39T520 1988.
  
  
• U.S. Negro World. Directory of U.S. Negro Newspapers, Magazines & Periodicals. [New York]: U.S. Negro World, 1967. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: Z6944.N39D6.
  
  
• United States. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Negro newspapers and periodicals in the United States ... prepared annually by the Negro Affairs Division. Washington, D.C.: [U.S. Department of Commerce]. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: Z6951.U48.
  
  
• University of Wisconsin--Madison. Libraries, Neil E. Strache, Susan Bryl, and State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Library. Black Periodicals and Newspapers : A Union List of Holdings in Libraries of the University of Wisconsin and the Library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 2d , rev ed. Madison: The Society, 1979. Location: Regenstein, 1st Floor Reference Collection. Call Number: Z1361.N39W82 1979.
  
  
• Wolseley, Roland Edgar. The Black Press, U.S.A. 2nd ed. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1989. Location: Regenstein, Bookstacks. Call Number: PN4882.5.W640 1990.